Researching the urban legend about the ghost children educated me a lot on urban legends as a whole. Most urban legends aren't true but almost all of them have some kind of lore behind them that makes them so intriguing and believable. When the legends take place at locations they're almost always a secluded area that has a creepy feel to it. I believe when an urban legend can be scientifically explained than it isn't true. This however, doesn't mean i don't believe in any legends at all. I just believe since the legend has been proven scientifically that it means it can be easily explained, and therefore doesn't have any reality to it.Even if this legend isn't true, San Antonio is considered one of the most haunted areas in Texas. So, if your looking for a good scare San Antonio is the place to be.

As a non believer i look for the evidence to prove that ghosts do not exist. Many research projects over the San Antonio Ghost Tracks have been completed. Almost every single one of these researchers have proven that the haunted tracks are nothing more than a myth and optical illusion. Most of the experiments have ended with the same result.The accident involving the school bus and train didn't actually take place near San Antonio at all. It actually took place in Midvale, Utah.  The story was covered in gory, gruesome details in the local San Antonio paper though, for quite awhile leading some of the locals to believe that the accident took place locally.(Barnett) The story has also been scientifically proven wrong. The road leading up to the tracks is actually a down hill slope, it is nothing more than an optical illusion. The road is slopes down hill enough that your car will gain enough momentum to go up and over the tracks, this is also the reason why you have to go over the tracks in the supposed direction the bus did, because the other direction is up hill. As for the mysterious fingerprints that show up when you powder your trunk, its believed that they are your old finger prints from when you've opened your trunk that are you made visible by the dusting of the powder.(Polston) Even though the tracks themselves may not be haunted in the sense that little ghost children push your car, it still is a creepy area at night and gives off an eerie vibe.

Barnett,Virgina; Barnett, Daniel. " The San Antonio Ghost Tracks." The North Texas Skeptic. November 2003. Web. 20 October 2010. <http://www.ntskeptics.org/2003/2003november/november2003.htm>

Polston,Cody; Carter,Bob. "Southwest Ghost Hunters Association: Investigation Report." Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. 2006. Web. 20 October 2010. <http://www.sgha.net/tx/sanantonio/ghost_tracks.html>

Ghost Girl on the Tracks (Courtesy Andy & Debi Chesney)

The stories you hear from the people who have actually tested this urban legend can differ in great amounts from each other. Some people tell tales of seeing their car move over the tracks; while other individuals stories may be about how nothing happened at all and how they just completely wasted their time. One lady said that she had bought a new parakeet from the local pet shop and the bird had been chirping all the way home until they reached the tracks, she said the bird didn't make one peep until they were a good distance away from the tracks again.(Myrene) There is one very common event within all the believer's stories. Most people say that when they put a fine white powder on their bumper before they cross the tracks fingerprints appear, afterwards. Not adult size finger prints either, child size fingerprints. Somtimes people say they even hear the laughter of the little children. Even if you do not believe what people say about these supposedly haunted tracks you have to admit while your there you do get a very eerie feeling from the area. At night it is incredibly dark, there are no crossing guards or lights to mark the tracks or road, its out in the countryside, and is very silent minus the hoots from the occasional owl or the howls of coyotes. (Brown)

Myrene."Ghost Children in San Antonio" Legends of America. May 2008. Web. 20 October 2010. <http://www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-ghostlychildren2.html>

Brown,Greg."San Antonio, TX- Ghostly Gravity Hill" Roadside America. 20 January 2002. Web. 20 October 2010. <http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/1298>

San Juan Mission in south San Antonio, Texas , courtesy National Park Service.

Near the San Juan mission in San Antonio, TX, in a old Spanish neighborhood where the streets were all named for children, are some railroad tracks that intersect with a portion of the roadway that is surrounded by thick trees and underbrush.You cant see the tracks until your about 12ft away. The story is believed to be at least 20 years old and details of the story change from person to person. Reportedly this is the site of a very fatal accident that involved a school bus full of children being struck by a train, back in the 1930's or 1940's.(Weiser) The urban legend supposedly originates from this story. The tracks are still in use today; therefore people who want to experience this phenomenon have to plan ahead to make sure they don't get struck by the train. In order to get the full experience you must enter the tracks from the same direction the school bus did.Its believed that you have to stop on the tracks themselves,but this isn't true. You actually have to go about 20ft beyond the tracks, this is to accommodate for where the back of the bus would have been located. (Polston) Doing so puts you at the spot where the bus would have actually been. Many people believe the background of the area and the geography of the land and roadway help to add to the excitement of the experience.

Wesiser,Kathy."Texas Legends: Ghost Children upon San Antonio's Railroad Tracks." Legends of America. January 2010. Web. 20 October 2010. <http://www.legendsofamerica.com/tx-ghostlychildren.html>

Polston,Cody; Carter,Bob;"Southwest Ghost Hunters Association: Investigation Report." Southwest Ghost Hunters Association. 2006. Web. 20 October 2010.<http://www.sgha.net/tx/sanantonio/ghost_tracks.html>



San Antonio Ghost Tracks - John Gattas

 One of the most well known urban legends around is the one about the school bus that was full of children that stalled on the railroad tracks and was hit by a train. People from all around come to test this legend. The legend has even been covered on many national paranormal TV shows. This story is said to take place in many different areas but its thought to originate from San Antonio. The legend has it that a school bus full of children was hit by a train as it stalled on the tracks and all were killed; so if you park your car on the tracks and put a white powder on the rear bumper, your car will be pushed off of the tracks, and when you get out to check, you will have the tiny finger prints of little school children on your bumper. I am personally a skeptic when it comes to any ghost story, so it would be hard to convince me that this urban legend is actually real.